Single Packet Authorization in a Cloud Computing Environment

ABSTRACT

Concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to single packet authorization (“SPA”) in a cloud computing environment. A compute node can include a virtual switch operating on at least a portion of a plurality of hardware resources of a cloud computing environment, a virtual firewall, a cloud workload executing a cloud service, and a SPA service. The virtual switch can receive a SPA request from a SPA client executing on a computing device. The virtual switch can forward the SPA request to the virtual firewall and to the SPA service. The virtual firewall can deny the SPA request in accordance with a firewall policy. The SPA service can utilize a SPA validation scheme to validate the SPA request. The virtual firewall can implement a temporary firewall policy to allow incoming packets from the SPA client and directed to the cloud service.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/441,004, entitled “Single Packet Authorizationin a Cloud Computing Environment,” filed Feb. 23, 2017, now allowed,which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Port knocking is an authentication technique that utilizes apre-determined sequence of closed port connection attempts to specificInternet Protocol (“IP”) addresses. This sequence is known in the art asa knock sequence. Port knocking utilizes a daemon that monitors firewalllogs for the correct knock sequence. Port knocking essentially providesa dynamic configuration of a default drop firewall policy to allowtemporary connections from authorized sources after an authenticationrequest.

Single packet authorization (“SPA”) is a next generation variation ofport knocking technology. SPA allows a single “knock” implementation inwhich the knock consists of an encrypted packet that is capturedpassively by a SPA service. The SPA service validates the encryptedpacket to allow temporary connections from authorized sources.

SUMMARY

Concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to SPA in acloud computing environment. According to one aspect of the concepts andtechnologies disclosed herein, a compute node can include a virtualswitch operating on at least a portion of a plurality of hardwareresources of a cloud computing environment, a virtual firewall, a cloudworkload executing a cloud service, and a SPA service. The virtualswitch can receive a SPA request from a SPA client executing on acomputing device. The virtual switch can forward the SPA request to thevirtual firewall and to the SPA service. The virtual firewall can denythe SPA request in accordance with a firewall policy. The SPA servicecan utilize a SPA validation scheme to validate the SPA request. Thevirtual firewall can implement a temporary firewall policy to allowincoming packets from the SPA client and directed to the cloud service.

In some embodiments, the cloud workload includes one or more virtualmachines. In some embodiments, the compute node includes multiple cloudworkloads, each of which can be served by the SPA service.

In some embodiments, the SPA request is encoded with a credential. Thecredential can be, for example, a symmetric and/or asymmetriccryptographic key. In some embodiments, the SPA validation routineincludes verifying that the credential is valid and that access to thecloud workload is allowed.

In some embodiments, the compute node can include a software-definednetworking (“SDN”) controller. In these embodiments, the SPA service isa function of the SDN controller.

In some embodiments, the virtual firewall determines whether thetemporary firewall policy has expired. In response to determining thatthe temporary firewall policy has expired, the virtual firewall can denyincoming packets from the SPA client. This logic can be implemented ineither the virtual firewall (general firewall rules have a time-to-live)or enforced by the SPA service (firewall rules are removed by the SPAservice after a timeout).

In some embodiments, the SPA request specifies a port and a protocol tobe allowed in accordance with the temporary firewall policy. Forexample, if the SPA request is for secure shell (“SSH”) access onTransmission Control Protocol (“TCP”) port 22, the temporary firewallpolicy can be added to the virtual firewall to allow packets from aclient IP address of the SPA client with TCP protocol and a destinationport of 22 to be forwarded to the cloud workload.

It should be appreciated that the above-described subject matter may beimplemented as a computer-controlled apparatus, a computer process, acomputing system, or as an article of manufacture such as acomputer-readable storage medium. These and various other features willbe apparent from a reading of the following Detailed Description and areview of the associated drawings.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intendedthat this Summary be used to limit the scope of the claimed subjectmatter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited toimplementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part ofthis disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an illustrative operatingenvironment capable of implementing aspects of the concepts andtechnologies disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating aspects of a method for providinga SPA service in a cloud computing environment, according to anillustrative embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example network functionsvirtualization platform (“NFVP”) and components thereof capable ofimplementing aspects of the embodiments presented herein.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer system andcomponents thereof capable of implementing aspects of the embodimentspresented herein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example mobile device andcomponents thereof capable of implementing aspects of the embodimentspresented herein.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example network capable ofimplementing aspects of the embodiments presented herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to SPA in acloud computing environment. According one aspect of the concepts andtechnologies disclosed herein, SPA can be provided as a cloud service toenforce authenticated on-demand network access. The integration of theSPA service directly into cloud-based virtual networking functionsgreatly simplifies SPA adoption by removing the burden for eachindependent application to manage the SPA implementation. Cloud computenodes provide the processing, memory, storage, and networking forvirtual workloads. Moreover, the integration of SPA service handleshighly-dynamic workloads and lightweight containers that may not supportdedicated host-level firewalls.

While the subject matter described herein may be presented, at times, inthe general context of program modules that execute in conjunction withthe execution of an operating system and application programs on acomputer system, those skilled in the art will recognize that otherimplementations may be performed in combination with other types ofprogram modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,components, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and/orother types of structures that perform particular tasks or implementparticular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art willappreciate that the subject matter described herein may be practicedwith other computer systems, including hand-held devices, mobiledevices, wireless devices, multiprocessor systems, distributed computingsystems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,minicomputers, mainframe computers, routers, switches, other computingdevices described herein, and the like.

In the following detailed description, references are made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown byway of illustration specific embodiments or examples. Referring now tothe drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements throughoutthe several figures, aspects of concepts and technologies for SPA in acloud computing environment will be described.

Turning now to FIG. 1, an operating environment 100 in which aspects ofthe concepts and technologies disclosed herein can be implemented willbe described, according to an embodiment. The illustrated operatingenvironment 100 includes a computing device 102 operating incommunication with the Internet 104 through which the computing device102 can communicate with a cloud computing environment 106 to access andutilize one or more cloud services (“cloud service”) 108. The cloudservice 108 can provide, at least in part, any type of cloud service orcombination of cloud services, including Infrastructure as a Service(“IaaS”), Platform as a Service (“PaaS”), and/or Software as a Service(“SaaS”). For purposes of description and not limitation, the cloudservice 108 will be described in context of a remote access service,whereby the computing device 102 can connect to and access resourcesprovided via the cloud computing environment 106. It should beunderstood that this implementation of the cloud service 108 is merelyillustrative of but one service that can benefit from the concepts andtechnologies disclosed herein with regard to security. The concepts andtechnologies disclosed herein can be extended to other services,including those listed above and others known to those skilled in theart. Moreover, one skilled in the art will appreciate the applicabilityof the concepts and technologies disclosed herein and variations thereofto future services.

According to various embodiments, the functionality of the computingdevice 102 may be provided by one or more mobile telephones,smartphones, tablet computers, slate computers, smart watches, smartglasses (e.g., the GOOGLE GLASS family of products), other wearabledevices, other smart devices, Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices,security devices, media playback devices, televisions, set-top devices,navigation devices, connected cars, laptop computers, notebookcomputers, ultrabook computers, netbook computers, server computers,computers of other form factors, computing devices of other formfactors, other computing systems, other computing devices, and/or thelike. It should be understood that the functionality of the computingdevice 102 can be provided by a single device, by two or more similardevices, and/or by two or more dissimilar devices.

The illustrated computing device 102 can execute, via one or moreprocessors (best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5) a SPA client application (“SPAclient”) 110 to generate a SPA request directed to the cloud service 108running on a cloud workload 112 within a compute node 114 of the cloudcomputing environment 106. The cloud workload 112, in some embodiments,can be or can include one or more virtual machines (“VMs”). In otherembodiments, the cloud workload 112 can be or can include acontainerized operating system (“OS”) virtualization. The cloud workload112 alternatively can be embodied as one or more other virtualizationsupon which or otherwise associated with the execution of one or moreinstructions of the cloud service 108. The cloud workload 112 isIP-addressable, and therefore is accessible directly from any host thathas Internet connectivity.

An illustrative networking and workflow involved in communication of aSPA request 116 from the SPA client 110 to the cloud service 108 runningon the cloud workload 112 will now be described. The SPA client 110generates the SPA request 116 and sends the SPA request 116 to the cloudcomputing environment 106, and more particularly, to a cloud ingress118. The cloud ingress 118 designates the edge of the cloud computingenvironment 106 boundary from the Internet 104 and routes incoming SPAflow, including the SPA request 116, and application flow from thecomputing device 102 towards one or more compute nodes, such as theillustrated compute node 114, in the cloud computing environment 106.The illustrated compute node 114 hosts the cloud workload 112 andsoftware-defined network (“SDN”) functions, including a virtual switch120 and a virtual firewall 122. The virtual switch 120 supports routingand switching operations for communications to and from the compute node114. The virtual firewall 122 restricts communication to the cloudworkload 112 in accordance with one or more firewall policies. Althoughthe compute node 114 is shown with SDN functions embodied as the virtualswitch 120 and the virtual firewall 122, it should be understood thatthe compute node 114 can support other SDN functions, such as, forexample, routers, hubs, repeaters, servers, gateways, other networkelements, some combination thereof, and/or the like.

As used herein, “SDN” refers to an architectural framework for creatingintelligent networks that are programmable, application-aware, and moreopen than traditional networks. In accordance with the concepts andtechnologies disclosed herein, SDN concepts are utilized to providevirtual switching and firewall functions to support access to the cloudservice 108. SDN allows for the creation of multiple virtual networkcontrol planes on common hardware. SDN can help extend servicevirtualization and software control into many existing network elements.Moreover, SDN enables applications to request and to manipulate servicesprovided by the network and to allow the network to expose networkstates back to applications. SDN exposes network capabilities throughapplication programming interfaces (“APIs”), making the control ofnetwork equipment remotely accessible and modifiable via third-partysoftware clients.

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the SDN elements (i.e., thevirtual switch 120 and the virtual firewall 122), other components ofthe compute node 114, and/or other components of the cloud computingenvironment 106 are created utilizing a network functions virtualizationplatform (“NFVP”) (best shown in FIG. 3). An NFVP is a sharedinfrastructure that can support multiple services and network. The NFVPcan include a plurality of hardware resources, including, for example,processing/compute resources, memory resources, and other resources suchas input/output (“I/O”) resources. These resources can be virtualizedand managed by one or more virtual machine monitors (“VMMs”) (also knownas “hypervisors”) to manage one or more virtual resources asabstractions of at least a portion of the hardware resources. Theseabstractions can be referred to as workloads (e.g., VMs), such as thecloud workload 112.

The compute node 114 also includes a SPA service 124. The SPA service124 can be a compute node networking function that validates and managesSPA requests, such as the SPA request 116, directed to the cloudworkload 112. The SPA service 124 can be provided as a standalonefunction as shown in the illustrated example, or can be combined withother functions of the compute node 114, including, for example, thevirtual switch 120, the virtual firewall 122, and/or other SDN functionssuch as an SDN controller (not shown).

A request 126 for application access (i.e., access to the cloud service108) on the cloud workload 112 is preceded by the SPA request 116. SPApackets, such as the SPA request 116, encountered by the virtual switch120 are forwarded to the SPA service 124 for validation. Validated SPArequests are implemented in the virtual firewall 122 for subsequentcloud service 108 access on the workload 112. Additional details in thisregard will be described below with reference to FIG. 2.

Although only one computing device 102, one cloud computing environment106, one cloud service 108, one SPA client 110, one cloud workload 112,one compute node 114, one SPA request 116, one cloud ingress 118, onevirtual switch 120, one virtual firewall 122, one SPA service 124, andone request 126 are shown in the illustrated operating environment 100,multiples of one or more of these elements are contemplated. As such,the illustrated embodiment should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

Turning now to FIG. 2, aspects of a method 200 for providing the SPAservice 124 in the cloud computing environment 106 will be described,according to an illustrative embodiment. It should be understood thatthe operations of the methods disclosed herein are not necessarilypresented in any particular order and that performance of some or all ofthe operations in an alternative order(s) is possible and iscontemplated. The operations have been presented in the demonstratedorder for ease of description and illustration. Operations may be added,omitted, and/or performed simultaneously, without departing from thescope of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein.

It also should be understood that the methods disclosed herein can beended at any time and need not be performed in its entirety. Some or alloperations of the methods, and/or substantially equivalent operations,can be performed by execution of computer-readable instructions includedon a computer storage media, as defined herein. The term“computer-readable instructions,” and variants thereof, as used herein,is used expansively to include routines, applications, applicationmodules, program modules, programs, components, data structures,algorithms, and the like. Computer-readable instructions can beimplemented on various system configurations including single-processoror multiprocessor systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based,programmable consumer electronics, combinations thereof, and the like.

Thus, it should be appreciated that the logical operations describedherein are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts orprogram modules running on a computing system and/or (2) asinterconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within thecomputing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent onthe performance and other requirements of the computing system.Accordingly, the logical operations described herein are referred tovariously as states, operations, structural devices, acts, or modules.These states, operations, structural devices, acts, and modules may beimplemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic,and any combination thereof. As used herein, the phrase “cause aprocessor to perform operations” and variants thereof is used to referto causing one or more processors disclosed herein to performoperations.

For purposes of illustrating and describing some of the concepts of thepresent disclosure, the method 200 is described as being performed, atleast in part, by one of the processors via execution of one or moresoftware modules. It should be understood that additional and/oralternative devices and/or network nodes can provide the functionalitydescribed herein via execution of one or more modules, applications,and/or other software. Thus, the illustrated embodiments areillustrative, and should not be viewed as being limiting in any way.

The method 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and furtherreference to FIG. 1. The method 200 begins and proceeds to operation202, where the SPA client 110 encodes the SPA request 116 for access tothe cloud service 108 provided by the cloud computing environment 106via the cloud workload 112. In some embodiments, the SPA client 110 canutilize secrets, such as symmetric and/or asymmetric cryptographic keys,contracted with the SPA service 124. In this example, the cloud service108 is or includes remote terminal access using secure shell (“SSH”).The method 200 can be applied to other cloud services, and as such, theaforementioned example should not be construed as being limiting in anyway.

From operation 202, the method 200 proceeds to operation 204, where theSPA client 110 sends the SPA request 116 to the Internet-accessible IPaddress associated with the cloud workload 112. From operation 204, themethod 200 proceeds to operation 206, where the cloud computingenvironment 106 receives, via the cloud ingress 118, the SPA request 116from the SPA client 110 via the Internet 104. The cloud ingress 118 thenforwards the SPA request 116 to the compute node that hosts thedestination cloud workload associated with the destination IPaddress—that is, to the compute node 114 that hosts the cloud workload112 in the example illustrated in FIG. 1.

From operation 206, the method 200 proceeds to operation 208, where thevirtual switch 120 receives the SPA request 116 and forwards the SPArequest 116 to the virtual firewall 122 and to the SPA service 124. Thevirtual switch 120 can be designed to forward a copy of all incomingpackets, including the SPA request 116, to the SPA service 124. As withall traffic, the SPA request 116 also is routed to the virtual firewall122, which determines if a firewall policy (or set of policies) for thecloud workload 112 will allow the SPA request 116 to be delivered. Priorto the SPA request 116 being validated by the SPA service 124, thevirtual firewall 122 will deny the SPA request 116. From operation 208,the method 200 proceeds to operation 210, where the virtual firewall122, in accordance with one or more policies, denies access for the SPArequest 116.

From operation 210, the method 200 proceeds to operation 212, where theSPA service 124 utilizes a SPA validation routine to validate the SPArequest 116. The validation routine can include operations for verifyingthe authentication (i.e., the SPA request 116 is encoded with propercredentials) and authorization (i.e., the resource—cloud workload112—being requested is allowed). Once validated, a temporary firewallpolicy to allow the SPA request 116 is implemented in the virtualfirewall 122. If the SPA request 116 is for SSH access on TransmissionControl Protocol (“TCP”) port 22, for example, a temporary firewallpolicy can be added to the virtual firewall 122 to allow packets fromthe client IP address with TCP protocol and a destination port of 22 tobe forwarded to the cloud workload 112. Integrating SPA validation as acompute node service supports SPA management for any workload hosted ona given compute node.

From operation 212, the method 200 proceeds to operation 214, where thevirtual firewall 122 implements a temporary firewall policy to allowincoming packets from the SPA client 110 to the cloud workload 112. Fromoperation 214, the method 200 proceeds to operation 216, where the SPAclient 110 sends application data packets to the Internet-accessible IPaddress of the cloud workload 112. From operation 216, the method 200proceeds to operation 218, where the virtual firewall 122 allows theapplication data packets in accordance with the temporary firewallpolicy. From operation 218, the method 200 proceeds to operation 220,where the virtual firewall 122 checks whether the temporary firewallpolicy has expired. This timer logic can be provided by the virtualfirewall 122 or the SPA service 124. If the virtual firewall 122determines that the temporary firewall policy has not expired, themethod 200 returns to operation 218, where the virtual firewall 122allows the application data packets in accordance with the temporaryfirewall policy. If, however, the virtual firewall 122 determines thatthe temporary firewall policy has expired, the method 200 proceeds tooperation 222, where the virtual firewall 122 denies any new applicationdata packet from the SPA client 110. This timer logic also can beprovided by the virtual firewall 122 or the SPA service 124. Fromoperation 222, the method 200 proceeds to operation 224, where themethod 200 ends.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a network functions virtualization platform(“NFVP”) 300 will be described, according to an exemplary embodiment.The architecture of the NFVP 300 can be utilized to implement variouselements disclosed herein, including, for example, the cloud computingenvironment 106. The NFVP 300 is a shared infrastructure that cansupport multiple services and network applications. The illustrated NFVP300 includes a hardware resource layer 302, a virtualization/controllayer 304, and a virtual resource layer 306 that work together toperform operations as will be described in detail herein.

The hardware resource layer 302 provides hardware resources, which, inthe illustrated embodiment, include one or more compute resources 308,one or more memory resources 310, and one or more other resources 312.The compute resource(s) 308 can include one or more hardware componentsthat perform computations to process data, and/or to executecomputer-executable instructions of one or more application programs,operating systems, and/or other software. The compute resources 308 caninclude one or more central processing units (“CPUs”) configured withone or more processing cores. The compute resources 308 can include oneor more graphics processing unit (“GPU”) configured to accelerateoperations performed by one or more CPUs, and/or to perform computationsto process data, and/or to execute computer-executable instructions ofone or more application programs, operating systems, and/or othersoftware that may or may not include instructions particular to graphicscomputations. In some embodiments, the compute resources 308 can includeone or more discrete GPUs. In some other embodiments, the computeresources 308 can include CPU and GPU components that are configured inaccordance with a co-processing CPU/GPU computing model, wherein thesequential part of an application executes on the CPU and thecomputationally-intensive part is accelerated by the GPU. The computeresources 308 can include one or more system-on-chip (“SoC”) componentsalong with one or more other components, including, for example, one ormore of the memory resources 310, and/or one or more of the otherresources 312. In some embodiments, the compute resources 308 can be orcan include one or more SNAPDRAGON SoCs, available from QUALCOMM of SanDiego, Calif.; one or more TEGRA SoCs, available from NVIDIA of SantaClara, Calif.; one or more HUMMINGBIRD SoCs, available from SAMSUNG ofSeoul, South Korea; one or more Open Multimedia Application Platform(“OMAP”) SoCs, available from TEXAS INSTRUMENTS of Dallas, Tex.; one ormore customized versions of any of the above SoCs; and/or one or moreproprietary SoCs. The compute resources 308 can be or can include one ormore hardware components architected in accordance with an advancedreduced instruction set computing (“RISC”) (“ARM”) architecture,available for license from ARM HOLDINGS of Cambridge, United Kingdom.Alternatively, the compute resources 308 can be or can include one ormore hardware components architected in accordance with an x86architecture, such an architecture available from INTEL CORPORATION ofMountain View, Calif., and others. Those skilled in the art willappreciate the implementation of the compute resources 308 can utilizevarious computation architectures, and as such, the compute resources308 should not be construed as being limited to any particularcomputation architecture or combination of computation architectures,including those explicitly disclosed herein.

The memory resource(s) 310 can include one or more hardware componentsthat perform storage operations, including temporary or permanentstorage operations. In some embodiments, the memory resource(s) 310include volatile and/or non-volatile memory implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data disclosedherein. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, randomaccess memory (“RAM”), read-only memory (“ROM”), Erasable ProgrammableROM (“EPROM”), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (“EEPROM”), flashmemory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatiledisks (“DVD”), or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetictape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium which can be used to store data and which can be accessedby the compute resources 308.

The other resource(s) 312 can include any other hardware resources thatcan be utilized by the compute resources(s) 308 and/or the memoryresource(s) 310 to perform operations described herein. The otherresource(s) 312 can include one or more input and/or output processors(e.g., network interface controller or wireless radio), one or moremodems, one or more codec chipset, one or more pipeline processors, oneor more fast Fourier transform (“FFT”) processors, one or more digitalsignal processors (“DSPs”), one or more speech synthesizers, and/or thelike.

The hardware resources operating within the hardware resource layer 302can be virtualized by one or more virtual machine monitors (“VMMs”)314A-314K (also known as “hypervisors;” hereinafter “VMMs 314”)operating within the virtualization/control layer 304 to manage one ormore virtual resources that reside in the virtual resource layer 306.The VMMs 314 can be or can include software, firmware, and/or hardwarethat alone or in combination with other software, firmware, and/orhardware, manages one or more virtual resources operating within thevirtual resource layer 306.

The virtual resources operating within the virtual resource layer 306can include abstractions of at least a portion of the compute resources308, the memory resources 310, the other resources 312, or anycombination thereof. These abstractions are referred to herein as VMs.In the illustrated embodiment, the virtual resource layer 306 includesVMs 316A-316N (hereinafter “VMs 316”). Each of the VMs 316 can executeone or more applications to perform the operations described herein. Inthe embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the cloud workload 112 can be oneof the VMs 316 executing the cloud service 108.

Turning now to FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system400 configured to provide the functionality in accordance with variousembodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein. Thesystems, devices, and other components disclosed herein can utilize, atleast in part, an architecture that is the same as or at least similarto the architecture of the computer system 400. For example, thecomputing device 102 can utilize, at least in part, an architecture thatis the same as or at least similar to the architecture of the computersystem 400. It should be understood, however, that modification to thearchitecture may be made to facilitate certain interactions amongelements described herein.

The computer system 400 includes a processing unit 402, a memory 404,one or more user interface devices 406, one or more I/O devices 408, andone or more network devices 410, each of which is operatively connectedto a system bus 412. The bus 412 enables bi-directional communicationbetween the processing unit 402, the memory 404, the user interfacedevices 406, the I/O devices 408, and the network devices 410.

The processing unit 402 may be a standard central processor thatperforms arithmetic and logical operations, a more specific purposeprogrammable logic controller (“PLC”), a programmable gate array, orother type of processor known to those skilled in the art and suitablefor controlling the operation of the server computer. Processing unitsare generally known, and therefore are not described in further detailherein.

The memory 404 communicates with the processing unit 402 via the systembus 412. In some embodiments, the memory 404 is operatively connected toa memory controller (not shown) that enables communication with theprocessing unit 402 via the system bus 412. The illustrated memory 404includes an operating system 414 and one or more program modules 416.The operating system 414 can include, but is not limited to, members ofthe WINDOWS, WINDOWS CE, and/or WINDOWS MOBILE families of operatingsystems from MICROSOFT CORPORATION, the LINUX family of operatingsystems, the SYMBIAN family of operating systems from SYMBIAN LIMITED,the BREW family of operating systems from QUALCOMM CORPORATION, the MACOS, OS X, and/or iOS families of operating systems from APPLECORPORATION, the FREEBSD family of operating systems, the SOLARIS familyof operating systems from ORACLE CORPORATION, other operating systems,and the like.

The program modules 416 may include various software and/or programmodules to perform the various operations described herein. The programmodules 416 and/or other programs can be embodied in computer-readablemedia containing instructions that, when executed by the processing unit402, perform various operations such as those described herein.According to embodiments, the program modules 416 may be embodied inhardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.

By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media mayinclude any available computer storage media or communication media thatcan be accessed by the computer system 400. Communication media includescomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, orother data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or othertransport mechanism and includes any delivery media. The term “modulateddata signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristicschanged or set in a manner as to encode information in the signal. Byway of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wiredmedia such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wirelessmedia such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within thescope of computer-readable media.

Computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but isnot limited to, RAM, ROM, Erasable Programmable ROM (“EPROM”),Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (“EEPROM”), flash memory or othersolid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (“DVD”),or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other mediumwhich can be used to store the desired information and which can beaccessed by the computer system 400. In the claims, the phrase “computerstorage medium” and variations thereof does not include waves or signalsper se and/or communication media.

The user interface devices 406 may include one or more devices withwhich a user accesses the computer system 400. The user interfacedevices 406 may include, but are not limited to, computers, servers,personal digital assistant (“PDAs”), cellular phones, or any suitablecomputing devices. The I/O devices 408 enable a user to interface withthe program modules 416. In one embodiment, the I/O devices 408 areoperatively connected to an I/O controller (not shown) that enablescommunication with the processing unit 402 via the system bus 412. TheI/O devices 408 may include one or more input devices, such as, but notlimited to, a keyboard, a mouse, or an electronic stylus. Further, theI/O devices 408 may include one or more output devices, such as, but notlimited to, a display screen or a printer. In some embodiments, the I/Odevices 408 can be used for manual controls for operations to exerciseunder certain emergency situations.

The network devices 410 enable the computer system 400 to communicatewith other networks or remote systems via a network 418. Examples of thenetwork devices 410 include, but are not limited to, a modem, a radiofrequency (“RF”) or infrared (“IR”) transceiver, a telephonic interface,a bridge, a router, or a network card. The network 418 may be or mayinclude a wireless network such as, but not limited to, a Wireless LocalArea Network (“WLAN”), a Wireless Wide Area Network (“WWAN”), a WirelessPersonal Area Network (“WPAN”) such as provided via BLUETOOTHtechnology, a Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (“WMAN”) such as aWiMAX network or metropolitan cellular network. Alternatively, thenetwork 418 may be or may include a wired network such as, but notlimited to, a Wide Area Network (“WAN”), a wired Personal Area Network(“PAN”), or a wired Metropolitan Area Network (“MAN”). The network 418can be or can include the Internet 104, or any other network orcombination of networks described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 5, an illustrative mobile device 500 and componentsthereof will be described. In some embodiments, the computing device 102can be configured like the mobile device 500. While connections are notshown between the various components illustrated in FIG. 5, it should beunderstood that some, none, or all of the components illustrated in FIG.5 can be configured to interact with one other to carry out variousdevice functions. In some embodiments, the components are arranged so asto communicate via one or more busses (not shown). Thus, it should beunderstood that FIG. 5 and the following description are intended toprovide a general understanding of a suitable environment in whichvarious aspects of embodiments can be implemented, and should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the mobile device 500 can include a display502 for displaying data. According to various embodiments, the display502 can be configured to display various graphical user interface(“GUI”) elements, text, images, video, virtual keypads and/or keyboards,messaging data, notification messages, metadata, internet content,device status, time, date, calendar data, device preferences, map andlocation data, combinations thereof, and/or the like. The mobile device500 also can include a processor 504 and a memory or other data storagedevice (“memory”) 506. The processor 504 can be configured to processdata and/or can execute computer-executable instructions stored in thememory 506. The computer-executable instructions executed by theprocessor 504 can include, for example, an operating system 508, one ormore applications 510, other computer-executable instructions stored ina memory 506, or the like. In some embodiments, the applications 510also can include a user interface (“UP”) application (not illustrated inFIG. 5).

The UI application can interface with the operating system 508 tofacilitate user interaction with functionality and/or data stored at themobile device 500 and/or stored elsewhere. In some embodiments, theoperating system 508 can include a member of the SYMBIAN OS family ofoperating systems from SYMBIAN LIMITED, a member of the WINDOWS MOBILEOS and/or WINDOWS PHONE OS families of operating systems from MICROSOFTCORPORATION, a member of the PALM WEBOS family of operating systems fromHEWLETT PACKARD CORPORATION, a member of the BLACKBERRY OS family ofoperating systems from RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED, a member of the IOSfamily of operating systems from APPLE INC., a member of the ANDROID OSfamily of operating systems from GOOGLE INC., and/or other operatingsystems. These operating systems are merely illustrative of somecontemplated operating systems that may be used in accordance withvarious embodiments of the concepts and technologies described hereinand therefore should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The UI application can be executed by the processor 504 to aid a user inviewing conference media, entering content, viewing account information,answering/initiating calls, entering/deleting data, entering and settinguser IDs and passwords for device access, configuring settings,manipulating address book content and/or settings, multimodeinteraction, interacting with other applications 510, and otherwisefacilitating user interaction with the operating system 508, theapplications 510, and/or other types or instances of data 512 that canbe stored at the mobile device 500. According to various embodiments,the applications 510 can include, for example, presence applications,visual voice mail applications, messaging applications, text-to-speechand speech-to-text applications, add-ons, plug-ins, email applications,music applications, video applications, camera applications,location-based service applications, power conservation applications,game applications, productivity applications, entertainmentapplications, enterprise applications, combinations thereof, and thelike.

The applications 510, the data 512, and/or portions thereof can bestored in the memory 506 and/or in a firmware 514, and can be executedby the processor 504. The firmware 514 also can store code for executionduring device power up and power down operations. It can be appreciatedthat the firmware 514 can be stored in a volatile or non-volatile datastorage device including, but not limited to, the memory 506 and/or aportion thereof.

The mobile device 500 also can include an input/output (“I/O”) interface516. The I/O interface 516 can be configured to support the input/outputof data such as location information, user information, organizationinformation, presence status information, user IDs, passwords, andapplication initiation (start-up) requests. In some embodiments, the I/Ointerface 516 can include a hardwire connection such as universal serialbus (“USB”) port, a mini-USB port, a micro-USB port, an audio jack, aPS2 port, an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”)1394 (“FIREWIRE”) port, a serial port, a parallel port, an Ethernet(RJ45) port, an RJ10 port, a proprietary port, combinations thereof, orthe like. In some embodiments, the mobile device 500 can be configuredto synchronize with another device to transfer content to and/or fromthe mobile device 500. In some embodiments, the mobile device 500 can beconfigured to receive updates to one or more of the applications 510 viathe I/O interface 516, though this is not necessarily the case. In someembodiments, the I/O interface 516 accepts I/O devices such askeyboards, keypads, mice, interface tethers, printers, plotters,external storage, touch/multi-touch screens, touch pads, trackballs,joysticks, microphones, remote control devices, displays, projectors,medical equipment (e.g., stethoscopes, heart monitors, and other healthmetric monitors), modems, routers, external power sources, dockingstations, combinations thereof, and the like. It should be appreciatedthat the I/O interface 516 may be used for communications between themobile device 500 and a network device or local device.

The mobile device 500 also can include a communications component 518.The communications component 518 can be configured to interface with theprocessor 504 to facilitate wired and/or wireless communications withone or more networks such as one or more IP access networks and/or oneor more circuit access networks. In some embodiments, other networksinclude networks that utilize non-cellular wireless technologies such asWI-FI or WIMAX. In some embodiments, the communications component 518includes a multimode communications subsystem for facilitatingcommunications via the cellular network and one or more other networks.

The communications component 518, in some embodiments, includes one ormore transceivers. The one or more transceivers, if included, can beconfigured to communicate over the same and/or different wirelesstechnology standards with respect to one another. For example, in someembodiments one or more of the transceivers of the communicationscomponent 518 may be configured to communicate using GSM, CDMA ONE,CDMA2000, LTE, and various other 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 4G, and greatergeneration technology standards. Moreover, the communications component518 may facilitate communications over various channel access methods(which may or may not be used by the aforementioned standards)including, but not limited to, Time-Division Multiple Access (“TDMA”),Frequency-Division Multiple Access (“FDMA”), Wideband CDMA (“W-CDMA”),Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (“OFDM”), Space-DivisionMultiple Access (“SDMA”), and the like.

In addition, the communications component 518 may facilitate datacommunications using Generic Packet Radio Service (“GPRS”), EnhancedData Rates for Global Evolution (“EDGE”), the High-Speed Packet Access(“HSPA”) protocol family including High-Speed Download Packet Access(“HSDPA”), Enhanced Uplink (“EUL”) or otherwise termed High-Speed UploadPacket Access (“HSUPA”), HSPA+, and various other current and futurewireless data access standards. In the illustrated embodiment, thecommunications component 518 can include a first transceiver (“TxRx”)520A that can operate in a first communications mode (e.g., GSM). Thecommunications component 518 also can include an N^(th) transceiver(“TxRx”) 520N that can operate in a second communications mode relativeto the first transceiver 520A (e.g., UMTS). While two transceivers520A-520N (hereinafter collectively and/or generically referred to as“transceivers 520”) are shown in FIG. 5, it should be appreciated thatless than two, two, and/or more than two transceivers 520 can beincluded in the communications component 518.

The communications component 518 also can include an alternativetransceiver (“Alt TxRx”) 522 for supporting other types and/or standardsof communications. According to various contemplated embodiments, thealternative transceiver 522 can communicate using various communicationstechnologies such as, for example, WI-FI, WIMAX, BLUETOOTH, infrared,infrared data association (“IRDA”), near-field communications (“NFC”),ZIGBEE, other radio frequency (“RF”) technologies, combinations thereof,and the like.

In some embodiments, the communications component 518 also canfacilitate reception from terrestrial radio networks, digital satelliteradio networks, internet-based radio service networks, combinationsthereof, and the like. The communications component 518 can process datafrom a network such as the Internet, an intranet, a broadband network, aWI-FI hotspot, an Internet service provider (“ISP”), a digitalsubscriber line (“DSL”) provider, a broadband provider, combinationsthereof, or the like.

The mobile device 500 also can include one or more sensors 524. Thesensors 524 can include temperature sensors, light sensors, air qualitysensors, movement sensors, orientation sensors, noise sensors, proximitysensors, or the like. As such, it should be understood that the sensors524 can include, but are not limited to, accelerometers, magnetometers,gyroscopes, infrared sensors, noise sensors, microphones, combinationsthereof, or the like. Additionally, audio capabilities for the mobiledevice 500 may be provided by an audio I/O component 526. The audio I/Ocomponent 526 of the mobile device 500 can include one or more speakersfor the output of audio signals, one or more microphones for thecollection and/or input of audio signals, and/or other audio inputand/or output devices.

The illustrated mobile device 500 also can include a subscriber identitymodule (“SIM”) system 528. The SIM system 528 can include a universalSIM (“USIM”), a universal integrated circuit card (“UICC”) and/or otheridentity devices. The SIM system 528 can include and/or can be connectedto or inserted into an interface such as a slot interface 530. In someembodiments, the slot interface 530 can be configured to acceptinsertion of other identity cards or modules for accessing various typesof networks. Additionally, or alternatively, the slot interface 530 canbe configured to accept multiple subscriber identity cards. Becauseother devices and/or modules for identifying users and/or the mobiledevice 500 are contemplated, it should be understood that theseembodiments are illustrative, and should not be construed as beinglimiting in any way.

The mobile device 500 also can include an image capture and processingsystem 532 (“image system”). The image system 532 can be configured tocapture or otherwise obtain photos, videos, and/or other visualinformation. As such, the image system 532 can include cameras, lenses,charge-coupled devices (“CCDs”), combinations thereof, or the like. Themobile device 500 may also include a video system 534. The video system534 can be configured to capture, process, record, modify, and/or storevideo content. Photos and videos obtained using the image system 532 andthe video system 534, respectively, may be added as message content to amultimedia message service (“MMS”) message, email message, and sent toanother mobile device. The video and/or photo content also can be sharedwith other devices via various types of data transfers via wired and/orwireless communication devices as described herein.

The mobile device 500 also can include one or more location components536. The location components 536 can be configured to send and/orreceive signals to determine a geographic location of the mobile device500. According to various embodiments, the location components 536 cansend and/or receive signals from global positioning system (“GPS”)devices, assisted GPS (“A-GPS”) devices, WI-FI/WIMAX and/or cellularnetwork triangulation data, combinations thereof, and the like. Thelocation component 536 also can be configured to communicate with thecommunications component 518 to retrieve triangulation data fordetermining a location of the mobile device 500. In some embodiments,the location component 536 can interface with cellular network nodes,telephone lines, satellites, location transmitters and/or beacons,wireless network transmitters and receivers, combinations thereof, andthe like. In some embodiments, the location component 536 can includeand/or can communicate with one or more of the sensors 524 such as acompass, an accelerometer, and/or a gyroscope to determine theorientation of the mobile device 500. Using the location component 536,the mobile device 500 can generate and/or receive data to identify itsgeographic location, or to transmit data used by other devices todetermine the location of the mobile device 500. The location component536 may include multiple components for determining the location and/ororientation of the mobile device 500.

The illustrated mobile device 500 also can include a power source 538.The power source 538 can include one or more batteries, power supplies,power cells, and/or other power subsystems including alternating current(“AC”) and/or direct current (“DC”) power devices. The power source 538also can interface with an external power system or charging equipmentvia a power I/O component 540. Because the mobile device 500 can includeadditional and/or alternative components, the above embodiment should beunderstood as being illustrative of one possible operating environmentfor various embodiments of the concepts and technologies describedherein. The described embodiment of the mobile device 500 isillustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

Turning now to FIG. 6, details of a network 600 are illustrated,according to an illustrative embodiment. The network 600 includes acellular network 602, a packet data network 604, for example, theInternet 104, and a circuit switched network 606, for example, apublicly switched telephone network (“PSTN”).

The cellular network 602 includes various components such as, but notlimited to, base transceiver stations (“BTSs”), nodeBs (“NBs”), eNBs,base station controllers (“BSCs”), radio network controllers (“RNCs”),mobile switching centers (“MSCs”), MMES, SGWs, PGWs, short messageservice centers (“SMSCs”), multimedia messaging service centers(“MMSCs”), home location registers (“HLRs”), home subscriber servers(“HS Ss”), visitor location registers (“VLRs”), charging platforms,billing platforms, voicemail platforms, GPRS core network components,location service nodes, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (“IMS”), and thelike. The cellular network 602 also includes radios and nodes forreceiving and transmitting voice, data, and combinations thereof to andfrom radio transceivers, networks, the packet data network 604, and thecircuit switched network 606.

A mobile communications device 608, such as, for example, the computingdevice 102, a cellular telephone, a user equipment, a mobile terminal, aPDA, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, and combinations thereof,can be operatively connected to the cellular network 602. The cellularnetwork 602 can be configured as a 2G GSM network and can provide datacommunications via GPRS and/or EDGE. Additionally, or alternatively, thecellular network 602 can be configured as a 3G UMTS network and canprovide data communications via the HSPA protocol family, for example,HSDPA, EUL (also referred to as HSUPA), and HSPA+. The cellular network602 also is compatible with 4G mobile communications standards as wellas evolved and future mobile standards.

The packet data network 604 includes various devices, for example,servers, computers, databases, and other devices in communication withone another, as is generally known. The packet data network 604 devicesare accessible via one or more network links. The servers often storevarious files that are provided to a requesting device such as, forexample, a computer, a terminal, a smartphone, or the like. Typically,the requesting device includes software (a “browser”) for executing aweb page in a format readable by the browser or other software. Otherfiles and/or data may be accessible via “links” in the retrieved files,as is generally known. In some embodiments, the packet data network 604includes or is in communication with the Internet. The circuit switchednetwork 606 includes various hardware and software for providing circuitswitched communications. The circuit switched network 606 may include,or may be, what is often referred to as a plain old telephone system(“POTS”). The functionality of a circuit switched network 606 or othercircuit-switched network are generally known and will not be describedherein in detail.

The illustrated cellular network 602 is shown in communication with thepacket data network 604 and a circuit switched network 606, though itshould be appreciated that this is not necessarily the case. One or moreInternet-capable devices 610, for example, a PC, a laptop, a portabledevice, or another suitable device, can communicate with one or morecellular networks 602, and devices connected thereto, through the packetdata network 604. It also should be appreciated that theInternet-capable device 610 can communicate with the packet data network604 through the circuit switched network 606, the cellular network 602,and/or via other networks (not illustrated).

As illustrated, a communications device 612, for example, a telephone,facsimile machine, modem, computer, or the like, can be in communicationwith the circuit switched network 606, and therethrough to the packetdata network 604 and/or the cellular network 602. It should beappreciated that the communications device 612 can be anInternet-capable device, and can be substantially similar to theInternet-capable device 610. In the specification, the network 600 isused to refer broadly to any combination of the networks 602, 604, 606.It should be appreciated that substantially all of the functionalitydescribed with reference to the network 600 can be performed by thecellular network 602, the packet data network 604, and/or the circuitswitched network 606, alone or in combination with other networks,network elements, and the like.

Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that concepts andtechnologies directed to SPA in a cloud computing environment have beendisclosed herein. Although the subject matter presented herein has beendescribed in language specific to computer structural features,methodological and transformative acts, specific computing machinery,and computer-readable media, it is to be understood that the conceptsand technologies disclosed herein are not necessarily limited to thespecific features, acts, or media described herein. Rather, the specificfeatures, acts and mediums are disclosed as example forms ofimplementing the concepts and technologies disclosed herein.

The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustrationonly and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications andchanges may be made to the subject matter described herein withoutfollowing the example embodiments and applications illustrated anddescribed, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of theembodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein.

We claim:
 1. A compute node comprising: a virtual switch comprisingvirtual switch instructions that, when executed by a portion of aplurality of processing hardware resources of a cloud computingenvironment, cause the virtual switch to perform virtual switchoperations comprising receiving a single packet authorization requestfrom a single packet authorization client executing on a computingdevice external to and in communication with the cloud computingenvironment via a network, and forwarding the single packetauthorization request to a virtual firewall and to a single packetauthorization service.
 2. The compute node of claim 1 further comprisingthe virtual firewall comprising virtual firewall instructions that, whenexecuted by a second portion of the plurality of processing hardwareresources of the cloud computing environment, cause the virtual firewallto perform virtual firewall operations comprising denying, in accordancewith a policy, the single packet authorization request.
 3. The computenode of claim 2, further comprising the single packet authorizationservice comprising single packet authorization service instructionsthat, when executed by a third portion of the plurality of processinghardware resources of the cloud computing environment, cause the singlepacket authorization service to perform single packet authorizationservice operations comprising validating, via a single packetauthorization validation scheme, the single packet authorizationrequest.
 4. The compute node of claim 3, wherein the virtual firewalloperations further comprise implementing a temporary policy to allowdata packets, received from the single packet authorization client,through the virtual firewall to a cloud workload.
 5. The compute node ofclaim 4, wherein the virtual firewall operations further compriseallowing the data packets received, from the single packet authorizationclient, in accordance with the temporary policy.
 6. The compute node ofclaim 5, wherein the virtual firewall operations further comprisedetermining that the temporary policy has expired.
 7. The compute nodeof claim 6, wherein the virtual firewall operations further comprise, inresponse to determining that the temporary policy has expired, denyingnew application data packets received, from the single packetauthorization client.
 8. A method comprising: receiving, by a virtualswitch executed by a portion of a plurality of processing hardwareresources of a cloud computing environment, a single packetauthorization request from a single packet authorization clientexecuting on a computing device external to and in communication withthe cloud computing environment via a network; and forwarding, by thevirtual switch, the single packet authorization request to a virtualfirewall and to a single packet authorization service.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising denying, by the virtual firewall executed bya second portion of the plurality of processing hardware resources ofthe cloud computing environment, in accordance with a policy, the singlepacket authorization request.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising validating, by the single packet authorization serviceexecuted by a third portion of the plurality of processing hardwareresources of the cloud computing environment, via a single packetauthorization validation scheme, the single packet authorizationrequest.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising implementing, bythe virtual firewall, a temporary policy to allow data packets, receivedfrom the single packet authorization client, through the virtualfirewall to a cloud workload.
 12. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising allowing, by the virtual firewall, the data packets received,from the single packet authorization client, in accordance with thetemporary policy.
 13. The method of 12, further comprising determining,by the virtual firewall, that the temporary policy has expired.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising, in response to determining thatthe temporary policy has expired, denying, by the virtual firewall, newdata packets received from the single packet authorization client.
 15. Acomputer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereonthat, when executed by at least a portion of a plurality of processinghardware resources of a cloud computing environment, cause the at leastthe portion of processing hardware resources to perform operationscomprising: receiving, by a virtual switch, a single packetauthorization request from a single packet authorization clientexecuting on a computing device external to and in communication withthe cloud computing environment via a network, and forwarding, by thevirtual switch, the single packet authorization request to a virtualfirewall and to a single packet authorization service.
 16. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operationsfurther comprise denying, by the virtual firewall, in accordance with apolicy, the single packet authorization request.
 17. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operationsfurther comprise validating, by the single packet authorization service,via a single packet authorization validation scheme, the single packetauthorization request.
 18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim17, wherein the operations further comprise implementing, by the virtualfirewall, a temporary policy to allow packets, received from the singlepacket authorization client, through the virtual firewall to a cloudworkload.
 19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, whereinthe operations further comprise allowing, by the virtual firewall, datapackets received, from the single packet authorization client, inaccordance with the temporary policy.
 20. The computer-readable storagemedium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:determining, by the virtual firewall, that the temporary policy hasexpired; and in response to determining that the temporary policy hasexpired, denying, by the virtual firewall, new data packets receivedfrom the single packet authorization client.